THE BRAIN AND THE VOICE IN SPEECH AND SONG


In the following pages on the Relation of the Brain to the mechanism of the
Voice in Speech and Song, I intend, as far as possible, to explain the
mechanism of the instrument, and what I know regarding the cerebral
mechanism by which the instrument is played upon in the production of the
singing voice and articulate speech. Before, however, passing to consider
in detail the instrument, I will briefly direct your attention to some
facts and theories regarding the origin of speech.




THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF SPEECH


The evolutionary theory is thus propounded by Romanes in his "Mental
Evolution in Man," pp. 377-399: "Starting from the highly intelligent and
social species of anthropoid ape as pictured by Darwin, we can imagine that
this animal was accustomed to use its voice freely for the expression of
the emotions, uttering danger signals, and singing. Possibly it may also
have been sufficiently intelligent to use a few imitative sounds; and
certainly sooner or later the receptual life of this social animal must
have advanced far enough to have become comparable with that of an infant
of about two years of age. That is to say, this animal, although not yet
having begun to use articulate signs, must have advanced far enough in the
conventional use of natural signs (a sign with a natural origin in tone and